Orlando Bloom: Starring in <em>The Hobbit</em> is an honour

Los Angeles - Orlando Bloom says it has been a "great honour and a privilege" to be part of The Hobbit movie series.

The 37-year-old actor was delighted to be asked to reprise his Lord of the Rings role of Legolas in the prequel movies, especially because the elf doesn't play much of a part in JRR Tolkein's original book.

He said: "To have the opportunity to play Tolkein's character at the tender age of 21 - I took that responsibility seriously.

Check Bloom out as his beloved character Legolas:



"And to come back and play the character in The Hobbit was a great honour and privilege.

"It was quite liberating because his journey isn't written about in 'The Hobbit' as such. We were able to play with the idea of who the character was."

And Orlando admits Legolas will always be special to him.

Asked how he feels now the movies are complete, he told SFX magazine: "End of an era. Legolas is probably the most defining character of my career to date.

"He was the first role I got to play, those two years post drama school, living in New Zealand, were massive for me."
The British star had told movie boss Sir Peter Jackson very early on that he would like to return for The Hobbit.

He said: "I actually had a conversation with Peter. I was like, 'Listen, if you ever want me to, you just let me know.' We were always in touch."

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in the series, hits cinemas this December.